Party donation. Pours like a porter. Smells sweet like candy. Palate has a bitterness that lingers longer than is considered pleasant. Medium body makes this a beer that’s easier to drink than expected.

Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a dark brown color with a large foamy tan head that lingered and left good lacing. The aroma was sweetish cherry, nut, dark fruits, caramel, toasty malts and faint cocoa and rum. The flavor was tart and bitter with notes of coffee, cherry, nut, molasses and faint cocoa. The beer turned dry towards the long bitter toast and caramel finish. Medium body. Ok.

Poured into a snifter, the Cold Nose pours a deep, rich mahogany cold that doesn’t let much light through. Great head retention that is a khaki/tan color. Aromas are of molasses, prunes, and spices. Wonderful sweet malt aroma, with some smokeyness, and a slight hop aroma. The taste is not what I expected. Sweet with some serious coffee flavors in this one, big molasses start blended with the coffee, slightly bitter as well. Mild carbonation, and a little dry for the mouthfeel. Very tasty, smooth and extremely likable. I would love to trade for some more of this later on.

UPDATED: FEB 7, 2011 Very dark brown with a beige head. Very sweet and doughy smelling, brown sugar and vanilla on the nose, and an unexpected tart vinous hint in the background. Tastes of doughy malt and toffee, lots of roastiness, spice, moves to a citrus zest bitter note. Over time, a whey-like tart note becomes more and more noticable in the background. Surprising complexity here, though it doesn’t always mesh and that tartness doesn’t seem like it belongs.

Pours a deep dark brown with hints of gold and red. Head is tan and thick and has staying power. Moser is earthy, malty, with hint of hops. Taste is a pleasant deep roasty, earthy mix with some hop notes. Decent brew.

12 oz. bottle- Pours dark red with a thick tan head, aroma is brown sugar and a tartness that is unidentifiable. The flavor is sweet citrus with sugar on top, and a hop character that lingers on the roof of the mouth, but not overbearing. A standard winter warmer and it happens to be in May, nothing outstanding but totally tolerable.

12 oz bottle into English pint. Aromas of piney hops, chalk, cinnamon, caramel malt. Pours brown with a nice thick beige head and nice lacework. Nice retention. Taste is faintly sweet at first, turns bitter, and then finishes with a sour bite with some tobacco notes. A little nutty. Taste is much more hoppy than your average winter warmer, which I think is great. I really don’t like most examples of this style. This is pretty tasty, though. Carbonation is high; full-bodied and a little oily. This is so much better than I remember it. I tried it last year and was definitely not impressed. Maybe I had a bad bottle before or they changed their recipe.

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